


Storge

by The_Readers_Muse



Category: Olympus Has Fallen (Movies)
Genre: Adult Content, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Anal Sex, Canon-Typical Violence, Explicit Sexual Content, Friends to Lovers, Knotting, M/M, Public Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-05
Updated: 2019-06-28
Packaged: 2020-01-05 10:47:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18364460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Readers_Muse/pseuds/The_Readers_Muse
Summary: "Southpaw has been compromised! I repeat, Southpaw has been-"





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own "Olympus has Fallen" or "London has Fallen," that is someone else's playground.
> 
> Authors Note #1: This story is based after "London has Fallen" and in an au where Lynn didn't die and Leah and Mike broke up not long after the events of "Olympus has Fallen."
> 
> Warnings: alpha/beta/omega, knotting, sexual content, anal sex, alpha/omega dynamics, public sex, friends to lovers, adult content, adult language, canon typical violence.

"Southpaw has been compromised! I repeat, Southpaw has been-"

Ben's mouth tasted sweet. A heady, saccharine-tart that spoke of a sweet-tooth and habitual over-indulgence when their lips crushed together. Knocking over the press podium as panicking reporters crushed safely out of range. Firmly herded out of the room by the security detail as a growing swirl of chaos threatened to ruin the moment. More or less aware that the cameras were still rolling as the entire world watched the President of the United States get kissed within an inch of his life by his head of security on National Television.

"Agent Banning! Stand down! Stand down!"

He let go of a fractured sound when Ben fisted his hair, wrenching him back so they were looking at one another. Breathing hard as a thin strand of saliva kept them connected. Finding something to savor in the way Ben's lips were stretched red and wet in an animal snarl. Threatening. Challenging.  _Wild_.

"Are we still broadcasting?!"

The President's free hand reached down and palmed the outline of his cock through his trousers. Making him groan as their hips tried and failed to grind. Catching almost painfully on the ridge where his knot was trying to swell. They staggered off to the side, trying to get the upper hand, sending the microphone tumbling off stage. Ignoring the female sounding gasp, before the door slammed and someone ran down the adjoining hall for the President's doctor.

Personally, he wasn't sure why.

The President of the United States was giving as good as he got.

Still, something about this wasn't right.

Ben was his.

That made sense.

That was right.

But at the same time-

He couldn't put his finger on it.

But frankly, the other nine fingers didn't give a flying  _fuck_  at this point, so-

"The cameras! Shoot the cameras!"

He growled, teeth bared. The sharp of his canines reflected in the closest lens before Agent Jenner took out the main camera with his gun. Shattering the lens as the stinging bite of ricocheting glass whipped his head around. Making Ben snarl, fingers curling to claws through the layers of his suit jacket, when he dragged Ben behind him. Shielding him as the Agent took out the rest of the cameras.

"What's the protocol?!"

The firm of his mate's hard-on hitched against his thigh. Distracting him as his eyes darted from one Agent to the other. Going instinctively for his holster and scrabbling at the snaps before Ben mouthed across the back of his neck. Dragging the sharp of his teeth across the vulnerable ridge and nuzzling open-mouthed at the shell of his ear.

"Alpha..." Ben breathed, wondering, possessive and needy. " _Alpha_."

Whatever was left of his fine motor control took a sharp exit and tossed itself off the nearest cliff with no apologies. He didn't need a gun. He barely understood how one worked anymore. All he knew- all he  _needed_  was-

"Agent Banning! Control yourself! Stand down, Agent!"

But before he could do anything, his Omega hissed. Rising to his full height as he tore off his tie. Eyes flashing as the Agent tried to approach, gun drawn. Showing the entire room his teeth before stopping them dead with two simple, impossible words.

" _Get. Out,"_  Ben snarled, voice wrecked and ragged. Chest rising and falling like getting out every syllable was torture. The warm, copper-molasses of his heat beating down on the other Agents in waves. Turning the room near toxic as the Alphas and Betas staggered backwards, covering their mouths with their sleeves. Reacting instinctively to the Omega's rage.

Animal-pride threatened to choke him as he stood at his mate's side.

_His Omega was strong._

_Worthy._

He tangled his fingers in his mate's belt-loops. Keeping him grounded – close – as they advanced together. Driving the unwelcome Alphas and Betas from their territory. It didn't matter that people were yelling, that the ear-piece in his ear was a mess of conflicting orders and words that'd long stopped having any meaning.

"Control- we can't-"

The sound of the lock _snick-snicking_  shut was inconsequential. They were alone. The debris of the room was only evidence of their victory. Of the righteousness of their mutual choice. Aware that this had been a long time coming as his chest heaved. Watching Ben watch him as the moment stretched like thin ice.

"Mine," he rasped. Licking at a trickle of blood from the cut on his cheekbone. Refusing to look away as his mate circled him. Examining him in the old way. The way every Alpha and Omega knew like breathing. Unwittingly playing his part as he stood up straighter, chest out, preening. Knowing his worth as his mate's scent wreathed out around him. Receptive

The nod Ben gave him was assenting.

Raw.

"Alpha..." Ben breathed again, tugging fitfully at his collar. Already drenched in sweat. He took a step forward, only to still when the Omega snarled a negative.

His cock twitched under the press of his tailored slacks.

He wanted-

The sound that came out of his mouth when Ben started to strip didn't even sound like him. Tasting iron-red as he bit down on the inside of his cheek. Wondering if he could taste the echo of the Omega's lips on his as he forced his knees to lock. Like a good soldier. Following every move as Ben's dress shirt joined his slacks. Pooling around his ankles in an extended wave of black and white before being kicked away. Leaving him in just an undershirt, boxer briefs and a whole lot of naked skin as his mate looked up at him through dark lashes.

Daring him to disobey.

Daring him to move before his Omega gave him permission.

He made a guttural sound deep in his throat. Half a plead, half a demand. But apparently enough to get the man's attention because Ben all but purred. Pleased. Advancing on him, one step at a time until he was all there was. All there would ever be. Looming and sweet and his. Holding him to the same silent promise as his Omega swiftly undressed him. Tossing his suit jacket with a relieved sigh as he scented him. He fought to hold himself still when Ben buried his face into the curve of his neck, taking deep shuddering pulls of his scent like they weren't already saturated in each other. Eyes slanting dark and feral-wide when he caught the reflection in Ben's eyes as he looked up. Nearly vibrating in place with the effort it took to-

His nostrils flared when the recycled air turned off.

_Why would they switch off the air conditioning?_

But soon enough the thought scuttled away, senses tunneling. Because the lack of air circulation only served to highlight their melding scents. Picking up something that smelled like oven-warmed caramel, gun oil and Honey-Jack Whiskey.

Christ.

Ben shifted, half-turning, showing how his briefs were slicked to his skin with heat-damp.

_He was in heat._

_His Omega needed him._

"Ben..."

He was shocked anything made it out of his lips at all. No less something coherent. But he didn't really have time to think about it, because before the echoes died, Ben was there. Draping himself over him and nipping gently at the underside of his chin.

"Yes...yes."

It was all he needed.

He crowded Ben into the wall with a cracking thud, palming the Omega's cock through his shorts before his fingers slipped under the waistband. Skating down his cleft until they came back slick. Rubbing the wet between his fingers with a pleased sound. Rumbling into the back of his neck as the Omega's gland swelled. Throbbing, fat and red at the base of Ben's throat.

Untouched.

Unmated.

_His._

"Yes," Ben said again, desperately trying to spread his legs wider. Voice muffled against the wall. Squirming, wrecked, panting and so not like himself that it sent a stab of something through him. Discomfort and pleasure all mixed together. The Alpha in him pleased that it was  _him_  making him feel this way.  _Only_   _him_. But discomfort because in his gut something didn't feel-

"Alpha, please...Mike."

That did it.

The control he'd been holding onto by the coat-tails abruptly vanished. Leaving him with no other option than to steal a bruising kiss. Biting viciously at Ben's lower lip as he slammed his fist into the wall above his head. Using the pain to distract himself as the urge to wrench the Omega's head to the side and sink his teeth into the bonding gland grew from a temptation to a necessity.

He heard something rip when he caught the man's boxer-briefs in his fist and yanked. But Ben wasn't letting him call all the shots. Feeling a clumsy hand flail out, finding the button of his slacks and pushing them down. Making him grunt when his cock slapped against the small of the Omega's back. Angling until it was gliding through the wet dripping from his entrance. Slicking down Ben's thighs until all he could hear was the squelch as they moved together.

The angle was shit, but they were too desperate not to try for the easy pleasure. Feeling his rut start to burn through his muscles as the pages of Ben's speech crumpled under their feet. Not sure if he was responding to Ben's heat or if there was something else at play as he hissed a breath when the head of his cock got caught on the man rim. Feeling the man's hole start to give before they fell sideways into the wall and he lost it. Bucking his hips ineffectually as Ben littered the air with humid curses and pleads.

It had never been like this before.

This was controlled desperation in the best and worst of ways.

His ruts had always been violent and hard. Mostly they were a total blackout. Coming out of them jittery, unsatisfied and without any real idea what he'd spent the last few hours doing other than jacking off with those awful synthetic hormones. Sometimes he'd switch things up by fighting another Alpha in the Rut-Rings in the hopes of ending things faster. It didn't. But it didn't stop him from doing it. Especially during the last few ruts.

But this?

This was different.

 _He was here._ __  
  
Present.

Aware.

 _Sane_.

He swept his hand across the table next to them. Sending the fucking  _flag_  flopping to the carpet, followed by more papers, Ben's glasses and an abandoned press pass. Grabbing Ben by the shoulders and spinning him, bending him over the desk as the man mewled. Legs spread and leaking pre-cum down the two hundred year old wood. Punching the air right out of his god damned lungs as he took his own cock in hand and palmed it. Hissing as the swollen flare of his knot threatened to pop right then and there.

_Christ._

_He was going to have a fucking heart attack_.

He leaned in, dragging his teeth down the curve of his mate's ass. Closing his eyes and trying to count down from a hundred when Ben made a soft sound, shifting hopefully. Barely getting past ninety-three before he was cracking a lid to watch as the man's entrance fluttered prettily. Pressing his thumb against the crinkled skin under it gave and gave and gave. Sucking his thumb in like the greedy thing it was. Ears ringing as Ben let go of a series of low, pitching moans that made him want to punch himself in the god damned  _face_.

Because it was too much.

Because this was Ben.

Because he wasn't anywhere near as strong as he needed to be if he was going to-

He choked. Mouth watering as he watched the slick start to well up again. Trying to pull him deeper as it drenched his cock-head. Running thick down the length of him. Ensuring he wouldn't be able to get Ben's scent off him for days.

No matter how much he scrubbed _everyone_  would know.

Everyone would know that the President of the United States was  _his_ and  _oh fuck-_

"This isn't how I wanted it," he said suddenly, finding the words from god knows where and stringing them together as his throat burned. Feeling every one like he was running a marathon as Ben stilled underneath him. Rubbing a soothing half-circle into his mate's lower back before his forehead dipped down to rest there. Breathing him in as all the forbidden thoughts he'd never been brave enough to let free took center stage. "I didn't know- but I wanted.  _Christ, Ben,_  I-"

"Mike-"

He bottomed out in a long, singular stroke. Nearly flying right out of his god damned skin as pleasure bloomed in the center of his chest. Different. Huge. Warm. His eyes blew open, sightless and wide as the tight heat of his Omega condensed around him.

It wasn't like he'd thought.

It wasn't like the dreams where he woke up, covered in sweat. Panting like he'd just run a marathon as his cock jerked through the last of an orgasm. Wetting cum across the sheets as his legs scissored. Ben's name fighting to make it past his lips until he sank his teeth into his arm and waited until pain replaced pleasure. Refusing to make it real.

It wasn't like that at all.

_It was better._

_More._

The sound Ben made when he was finally buried to the hilt was probably illegal in some far-flung, ass backwards part of the world. And was  _definitely_ something he'd be happy to hear for the rest of his god damned life. And he wasn't the only one. Because before he could get used to it, there was a hand on his wrist. Tugging. Forcing him to make the awkward angle work as they kissed sloppily.

If he was a better person, he would have said something. Or at least started slow. But he wasn't and he didn't. As it was, he could barely fucking  _breathe._  All he could do was grit his teeth and move. Losing himself entirely when Ben clenched around him. Forgetting to be polite when his knot throbbed - hips jerking shallowly. Snarling an answering sound when Ben only  _keened._

_Oh, fuck._

_Fuck._

He nearly threw a punch when a hand slapped across his chest. Getting a hold of himself when he realized Ben was moving restlessly, tugging at him and making little grunts of displeasure until he realized-

His cock slipped out, straining-red and wet, tip doming with slick and pre-cum as Ben moved so he was facing him. Sitting on top of the desk like something out of a raunchy porno as the muscles in his stomach flexed. Leaning backwards. Inviting him back.

"I want to see..." the man hummed, planting one hand behind him like a brace as he scooted towards the edge of the desk. Expression dark and wanting as he reached down and petted his cock, eyes flashing with a thousand little things he knew uniquely as Ben before he was on him again. Easing one of the Omega's legs over his shoulder as he pushed back inside with a groan.

He tossed back his head – gone on it - when the man's tightness welcomed him back. Feeling stripped bare in an entire new way as Ben moved underneath him. Watching him with those predatory eyes. Missing nothing and demanding everything. Meeting him thrust for thrust. Encouraging him as the balls of his feet dug into the small of his back. Anchoring him deep and firm as every slide, made his knot swell a little more.

He was too far gone to make it last.

This wasn't the time for that.

It should have been, but it wasn't.

Because that same buzzing was back between his ears. An annoying whine of dying frequencies that'd started when Ben had brushed past him as he'd entered the Briefing room. He didn't understand what it meant. But it was there. Building. Changing in volume when he pivoted the angle and Ben yelled. Finding his Omega's prostate in a sweaty, leaking mess of fluids and animal-satisfaction.

"Oh god- please- Mike-  _Alpha!_ "

He'd never seen Ben like this. Eyes all slitted with pleasure, fingers scrabbling desperate across the desk. Trying to find a handhold as he nailed the same spot once, twice,  _again_. Half-blinded by uneven starbursts that spread between blinks as his hips slammed down, desperate to do it again. Realizing he was saying his name over and over before the entire world rattled still. Every muscle in his body straining as he dragged his cock back, then pushed forward, driving it home the same moment his knot started to swell.

"Ben-  _Fuck_!"

He cut himself off and set his teeth into the back of the Omega's neck, missing the bonding gland by fucking inches. Swallowing the hormone-laden flush of saliva that would had mated them together for life as everything devolved. Unable to do anything more than grind himself deeper as his knot tied them together and Ben fucking  _howled_.

He shouted- hearing it all second-hand through the echoes as his orgasm hit. Understanding, suddenly and blindingly, exactly what all the fucking fuss was about. Why people said that there was nothing like it.

_Christ. All this time and he'd had no idea._

He emptied himself into his Omega with a stuttered stream of cum that pulled the most delicious sounds from Ben's lips. Back arching high as he reached his own peak untouched, before he could even think of wrapping his hand around the man's cock. Striping his chest and belly with thick pearl-white as Ben milked him for everything he had. Taking all of him - accepting him - as their scents melded and he mouthed at the blissed-out slack of his mate's lips.

_His._

_Ben._

He came back to himself worrying at the swollen-red of the man's rim with his thumb. Tracing where it was stretched around his cock before he shuddered through another spasm. Caught off guard by how powerful it felt -  _how right_  - as gravity eventually had him splayed on top of his mate. One hand drifting down to rest on the flat of Ben's belly like he could sense the difference as another orgasm only prolonged the inevitable. Making them both groan as he chewed a kiss into the knobs of the man's spine. Holding him close as his lids dragged heavy and Ben slipped off to sleep.

He was already following him by the time the first plume of knock-out gas flooded the room.


	2. Chapter 2

The next thing he was aware of was cracking a lid at an unfamiliar ceiling. Fingers spidering automatically for his sidearm, only to come back empty as the rest of him slowly registered his surroundings. Like the mysterious full-body ache that was throbbin' through him and the irritating catch of someone breathing right-

"About time you woke up, you've been sleeping for the past twelve hours," Lynn issued from the chair beside him. Looking up from her pile of paperwork with an irritated flick before scribbling something down on her tablet.

The only thing that saved him from falling right off the bed was the stack of file folders piled on the corner.

"Lynn? What-  _oh fuck_ ," he groaned, falling back against the pillow he must have been drooling on at some point. Feeling so much like pounded shit that he threw an arm over his eyes and rolled over. Realizing in the process that he was wearing a loose pair of strange smelling sleep pants and nothing underneath.

_Christ, his head._

Everything was foggy.

Like spelunking in a cave, everything was coming at him in disembodied waves.

"Oh god, what hit me?"

"Neutralizing gas," she replied, unfazed as he winced and fumbled around for the bottle of water on the side table. Shaking an overgenerous amount of pain killers into his hand before tossing them back with roughly half the bottle. "Brand new flavor from the DOD. Meant specifically to neutralize both Alpha and Omega without compromising their nervous systems while the Omega is in heat. All things being equal, it worked pretty well. I don't think it has been officially tested in the field so you'll probably be getting a fruit basket from the chem department. You, however, should have woken up hours ago. The President was up and moving within an hour and let me tell you he is in a  _mood_  today. The doctor took a look at you and said you were running on empty. Worn out. You pulled your damn stitches-  _again_. Exactly how much sleep have you gotten since London, Mike? Dammit, I thought we talked about this?"

"What happened?" he asked, ignoring the rest as something scratched insistently at the corner of his mind. Suddenly hyper aware that he was in the East Wing of the White House. In one of the state rooms used for visiting dignitaries. "Where is the president? Doctor Mathison was here? Why? What happened?"

He was up and alert before he'd even thought the action through. Regretting it instantly. Feeling his relationship with gravity dip and sway until Lynn's manicured nails bit gently into his shoulder, keeping him steady until he waved her off and fell back onto the bed. Breathing in her calming, Beta scent as his gripped his head in his hands. Wanting the world to stop spinning as he caught blurts of the President's scent on her clothes.

Hold on-

His nostrils flared, head jerking up as he caught the burnt scent of anger and discomfort. But it wasn't the kind of scent he was used to from Ben. Not exactly. He inhaled before he could stop himself, before he remembered Lynn was right there, watching him. The available air was a riot of scents. Stress mostly. Which wasn't uncommon in the big house. But the way it had thickened seemed to indicate something had happened.

_What happened?_

_If there'd been knock out gas, did that mean some sort of attack?_

He scented the air, inhaling deeply. Keeping it in his lungs for as long as he could before letting go of it again. Sighing as he did. Like the pheromones and hormones were the same as a nicotine rush. And maybe they were. Either way, it seemed like all his senses were heightened, on edge. Because he swore he could almost  _taste_  the hint of something far more interesting on the air. Something sweet and caramelized that tugged at the portion of his brain that was still trying to piece everything together. Half a dozen different scenarios already running full tilt through his mind's eye.

The last thing he remembered was the night shift-  _no-_  he'd been boxing with the President in the morning. There had been a strange smell, but he'd been able to ignore it, focusing instead on the Press briefing he was shadowing the President on in the afternoon. It was going to be the last briefing regarding what happened in London. Something the media was _still_  all over.

"Did I miss my shift?" he asked cautiously. Slowing catching on to the seriousness that seemed to be owning the moment as Lynn sighed and set her glasses on the side-table.

"You really don't remember?"

" _Lynn_ ," he demanded.

An awkward swell threatened to rise up his throat when she fixed him with a look. Pitying, annoyed and strangely warm all at the same time before her nails click-clicked across her tablet and handed it to him.

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

It was horribly fascinating in retrospect. Watching the exact moment everything just fucking snapped. Like a train wreck or a multi-car pile-up, only with one hundred percent more sex appeal. All on public television.

Yeah, he wasn't going to be popular at HQ for awhile.

Maybe ever.

He was able to catch the moment where Ben brushed past him on his way to the podium. Or at least that was what it'd looked like, what it had originally intended to be. Instead, what the camera  _hadn't_  caught, was when soft fingers had unexpectedly slipped under the sleeve of his jacket. Feathering around the bare of his wrist before continuing on to the microphone.

The camera panned away to focus on the President, but even then he could see the set of his shoulder's change as the cameras went off and Ben smiled at the press pool. Stiffening like raised hackles long before he even started his speech. It had all gone off without a hitch, and seemed to be getting the right reception from the reporters if their questions were anything to go by. Closing with a rousing tribute to those they'd lost in London. Words he knew for a fact had kept Ben up most of the night writing.

Unsurprisingly, Trumbull had stepped onto the podium and shaken the President's hand. Naturally gravitating into the usual photo opportunities as the Vice President leaned in and whispered something. Making Ben smile as the older Alpha wrapped his arm around his shoulder and-

_Ah._

"Personally, I would make a point to apologize to the Vice President for growling at him, but that's none of my business," Lynn commented breezily, as the video kept playing. Only making the moment he jumped on stage, teeth bared, all the more surreal. The muscles in his neck straining as he got between Trumbull and Ben. Full on  _challenging_  the older Alpha - before Ben was suddenly in front of him. One hand bunched in his suit jacket, tugging, as a low pitching sound left his throat. Questioning and hopeful and so textbook Omegan it'd halted him in his tracks. Replacing the need to attack and protect with something darker-  _richer_ and-

_Oh._

Well-

_Shit._

Okay, so- that actually explained a lot, to be honest.

He wondered what it said about him, considering instead of embarrassment or confusion, all he was really registering was a heavy blanket of contentment. Like everything was as it should be as Lynn watched him take in the moment he punched Ben with his lips and stole all the air. Feeling sated - grounded - in a way he'd never experienced. Like something had curbed all his usual restlessness and left peace instead.

It was a strange feeling.

Something he figured he'd get used to.

If he got the chance, of course.

It probably helped that he knew how this shit worked. The only way this could have gotten as far as it had was if  _both_  of them had been willing participants. An Omega didn't invite the intentions of just any Alpha, heat fever or no. It was based on something deeper than basic sex drives and hormones. In fact, before the invention of suppressants, bonded pairs often found each other exactly the same way. Suddenly. Violent. And with little thought for any and all innocent bystanders.

A muscle in his cheek twitched upwards as the briefing room exploded into pandemonium. With half the detail trying to wedge between him and Ben, and other splitting between flushing the reporters and making sure the Vice President got out safely.

He snorted internally. Deciding to take it as a win that everyone remembered their training.

The video kept going after that. Showing how they ended up standing side by side before the cameras were shot out. Teeth bared and posturing as they took on the remaining Agents like they were an invading force. Snarling and circling, but rarely out of reach of each other as Ben raked his nails down his chest, baiting him into a brutal kiss like the entire damn thing was an overture. Accepting him. Wanting him. Needing him.  _More_.

' _Hell of a proposition, Mr. President,'_ he thought wryly.

They'd been on this road for a long time, he realized. This had been something that'd come through the ashes of Maggie's death and strengthened into something new. Something different. Something that'd started living and breathing, all by itself, not long after Kang took over the White House.

It had been right in front of them the entire time.

Only neither of them had seen it, until-

He shook himself back into the present. Shifting as his cock ached in a tired sort of way, safely tucked in the cradle of his thighs. Feeling the burning pull of abused muscles and rut-exhaustion as he blinked rapidly. Ready to sell the East Lawn for a cup of shitty coffee.

"-between you and me, I'm probably being fired right now," Lynn commented blandly, like she was talking about the weather or her commute home. Realizing he'd lost track of the conversation as he mentally scrambled to catch up. "It was my order to release the gas and I got myself torn a brand new asshole thanks to you. The President wasn't happy to be physically extricated from his new mate before- and this is according to him- 'you were both conscious enough to make it official.'"

The air quotes were unnecessary, but doubly hilarious considering he could actually hear the President's irritated tone behind her sharp, nonsense expression. Which was probably hiding how much she wanted to murder him, right at this moment.

"Do you have any idea what a PR nightmare this is? At the end of the day Alpha and Omega relations are absolute. The public will accept it. But we have to be careful. Our first Omega President was helped by not having an Alpha, you know it and I know it. The old attitudes still linger. So for the love for  _fuck_ , don't think with your damn knot. We might be able to salvage this if we play it right. God knows it took long enough for this country to elect its first Omega president. Now this mess."

"Wait, hold on- he's okay with what happened? He wants-" he trailed off as Lynn rolled her eyes.

Admittedly, he wasn't good at this kind of stuff.

He had a failed marriage and a pissed off ex-wife to prove it.

He was good at shooting and keeping Ben alive.

That was about it.

He wasn't afraid to admit that he needed to know for sure. Because honestly, it was one thing to feel it. To know in the very center of him that this was right. But it was something else entirely to hear it said aloud. God knows he'd confused a life lesson for a relationship once or twice before.

"Why do you think you're here, Mike? Jesus Christ," Lynn snapped. Like he was just as much of a moron as she'd always taken him for and then some. Huffing distractedly as her phone pinged. "The President was very clear. We were to treat  _'his Alpha'_  with all due respect and attention. He wants to see you as soon as you're ready, by the way. And we're all under orders not to let you sneak out, so don't even try. At least half a dozen people in this building have itchy trigger fingers right now. Particularly the speech writing department, as you might imagine."

But he was still stuck on the first part.

Everything else could go to hell as far as he was concerned.

_His Alpha._

_Jesus._

He was still shell-shocked when she snorted and snatched the tablet back. Shoving it in her briefcase and switching to her phone, typing briskly.

"Hopeless," she muttered.

It was only after silence started to rule the room that something occurred to him.

"Why did you stop it then?" he asked, remembering the hot clutch of Ben's body. The building burn deep in his guts that'd exploded outwards when his knot swelled. Tying them together as he nearly fucking  _sobbed._  The sound quickly overtaken by a throaty Omegan keen as their scents melded and he fisted his hand in Ben's hair, baring his throat. "Why not let the rest run its course?"

"What was  _left_ to happen, you mean?" Lynn replied dryly. Side-eying him in a way that made him wonder what the security cameras had picked up. "I think you scared Leibeniz and Furlan for life, by the way. They were the ones who had to...separate you two. I didn't know Furlan had facial expressions, to be honest. Figured his face was frozen like that. So, I suppose congratulations for shattering that betting pool are in order. Along with a few others I'm not supposed to know about. Otherwise, all you missed was the President nearly giving Chezar a black eye when he woke up. That and the opposition leader announcing he will be demanding a full inquiry into Secret Service protocols and procedures."

"Oh, is that all?" he snorted, amused. Letting his brain run with the mental image of Ben waking up in the residence wing, snarling and grouchy. But the hand she rested on his arm a couple moments later was sober enough to make him still. Eyes snapping up to meet hers as she squeezed him gently.

"God knows how you didn't claim him, Mike, but I'm glad you didn't. Must have hurt like hell, but it probably saved our bacon in more ways than one. You know as well as I that the President's bonding has to be completely by the book. There can be no question of intent. It has to be public- we at least need to get coverage of you both before and after. This is unprecedented. Things will probably get worse before they get better, but as it stands, his approval ratings are holding steady."

The next question was obvious and cutting edge. Enough that his hackles prickled and Lynn's nose twitched at the change in his scent. Irritated that it hadn't been one of the first things out of his mouth after waking up.

"How? How did this happen?"

Lynn sighed.

"Mike, there was no go-to protocol in place because the President was married when he came into office. He was already on suppressants and birth control. You know how the suppressants work- they make biology heel. Save for spring ruts and his heat week, you wouldn't know an Alpha or an Omega from a Beta. That's the whole point. And it works...99.9% of the time. But it isn't unfailable. Sometimes biology knocks us on our ass just because it can and other times...well-"

He nodded shallowly, considering the variables.

Maggie had been a Beta. Which meant Conner had been something of a miracle. As a rule it was difficult for Omega males to impregnate their female partners. The majority of the sperm they produced was sterile, but it wasn't unheard of. He knew his suppressants were fine, he would have been able to smell the difference. The President's heat week wasn't for about three months and his rut was almost six months off. So how had-

Down the hall to orderlies talked in hushed voices.

Something about the President clearing his schedule for the next couple of days.

He swallowed, hard.

"Either way, it wasn't supposed to matter. You were on suppressants and so was he," Lynn stated. "Both of you are surrounded by two dozen agents any given day, any irregularities would have been picked up almost immediately. Far in advance of any real problem."

"So, what changed?" he said hoarsely.

"You tell me," she returned, eyes roaming across the screen in front of her as her mobile pinged again. "According to all the experts neither of your suppressants packs were tampered with. You had the correct levels in your system. The tapes show the two of you sparing in the boxing ring an hour before the press conference. Seems like things got a bit heated. You didn't back off when you normally do and he was pushing it. Johnson told me it was the first time you two were in the ring since-"

"London," he breathed.

_Oh fuck._

"Exactly," Lynn stated. Like as far as she was concerned that was the concluding point on the matter. And yeah- maybe it was. Because honestly, things had been different since they'd pulled their asses out of that elevator shaft. Bleeding, singed and tired. But for once it'd been different in a good way. It'd  _felt_ different in a good way.

They'd spent almost every waking moment together since then. Neither of them had stopped to rest and recover. There hadn't been any time for that. So when Ben dove right back into the thick of things with a vengeance, he had too. Taking to sleeping in the back of the barracks just so he could be close. Complacent and settled when Ben was in eyeshot. And irritable and off-balance when he wasn't.

He'd known people were starting to notice. They wouldn't have been good at their jobs if they hadn't. But up until now he'd been able to brush it off – both to them and himself – as some well-deserved paranoia. Not above using the pull he'd earned to get his way as he reshuffled the entire department and put every single agent, including himself, through the paces. Revamping the entire grid and closing every single possible hole they could get clearance to spend tax-payer money on. Fully expecting anything and everything to go wrong. Not putting it past Aamir to have another trick up his sleeve or-

_Holy shit, he really was an idiot._

Lynn's hand was back on his arm like she knew.

"Listen, Mike. Regardless of how or why, he  _chose_  you. He chose you as his mate. It doesn't work any other way, you know that. But since you were both on suppressants, neither of you realized it. And since neither of you can be normal and figure things out the old-fashioned way -  _by using your god damn eyes_  - it boiled over on us," Lynn told him, tone broaching no argument but still managing to be kind. Fond, even.

"Something changed in London. You know it. I know it. Hell, even he knows it. But I don't think anyone, least of all the two of you, knew until yesterday. How you managed to be this pig-headed I have no idea, but here we are. So for the sake of my sanity, don't screw this up, okay?"

He took a deep breath.

Then another.

Realizing that in the scheme of things, he was lucky.

He didn't have to guess when it all came down to it.

_He knew._

"So, I should probably-" he started, inclining his head towards the door as a restless sort of excitement trickled through him like watered down adrenaline.

"Go?" she finished for him, smiling with her eyes as she sighed and picked up her radio. "Yes, you should."

His bare toes curled into the carpet as he got to his feet. Stretching as the catch of sore muscles pulled and burned almost pleasantly. God knows he hadn't used some of those particular muscles in a while. Not since Leah, anyway. He winced, god- Leah. Talk about a cold open. She'd remarried not long after Kang's takeover, but they were still friendly – still running in the same circles, the same friends. Honestly, he'd been happy for her. Hell, he'd even been there the day she'd gotten hitched to a nice Beta surgeon who was so in love with her it was nauseating. Last he heard kid number one was already on the way. He figured she'd probably found out the same time as everyone in America had.

"Party Crasher is on his way to Southpaw. Look alive, gentlemen," Lynn sent, speaking into the radio with her usual clipped tone.

"Party Crasher?" he repeated, incredulous and amused.

"The boys decided you needed a designation and I'm not going to be the hard ass that ruins their fun. You are on my shit-list, Banning, so you're going to deal with it. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," he replied with a grin. "Besides, I happen to know that the President might be willing to-"

"I hate you both," she said dismissively, waving him away in that way she had that only made him appreciate her more. "Don't involve me in your domestics or I will stick my boot up your ass."

He snuck a kiss on her cheek on his way out. Automatically inhaling as he caught the irritated tart of his Omega and angled towards it. Senses sharper than he was used to as he took in Ben's scent with long, over-indulgent pulls.

He was almost home free before-

"Put on a damn shirt before someone sees you! This is the White House! Not Ladies Night on the Vegas strip!

His lips twitched. Holding back a laugh by the skin of his teeth as he snagged the green long sleeve shirt someone had left folded next to the door. The shoes and slacks he ignored by default. Figuring the least he could do was show the man exactly what he was getting into.

As if he didn't know already.


	3. Chapter 3

The hall was surprisingly empty as he skipped the elevator and took the stairs. Approaching the main residence slowly, one step at a time. Forcing his pace into something more measured and less like a stereotypical Alpha strut as he ran through everything that had happened. Only pausing to peer out the window onto the front lawn, shying away almost immediately as he spotted the thick cluster of reporters doing live broadcasts by the gates.

He had a feeling he didn't want to see the headlines tonight.

Or possibly ever again.

The closer he got to the residential wing, the more the air was saturated with an array of scents. Normally they would be dull, but with the interruption of his suppressants it was like an overwhelming buffet that moved with the circulating air.

_Ben._

_Him._

_Ben._

_Conner_

_Ben._

_Him._

_Ben._

_Conner._

Those were the three strongest scents and honestly-

_Christ._

_Exactly how blind had he been?!_

His lip curled when he stopped in front of the bedroom door. The scent of stressed Alpha reeked through the intervening space. It was fading, but strong enough that it was lingering despite the newly installed scent blockers that seemed to have popped up in the residential wing overnight. Able to pick out McMillan's feisty, burnt ozone scent and at least half a dozen of his most senior agents before he pinched his nose and shook himself. Instinctively trying to rid himself of the cloying stink of any rival Alphas.

He paused in the act of knocking when the connotations of that actually sunk in. Scent blockers were meant to sooth territorial Alpha when they entered areas they called their own. Like their homes and offices. That meant the President had ordered them installed _for_  him. Suggesting-

The door opened before he could get over himself and just fucking knock.

"Hey," Ben greeted softly, casually dressed and barefoot, just like him. Knuckling at the back of his head – just like he did when he wasn't sure what to say - before opening the door wide in invitation.

"Hey," he said back, shoving back all the words he didn't know how to say. Eyes flicking up and down before meeting him at eye level. A force of habit that for once had nothing to do with a status check and everything to do with the old university t-shirt that looked about as butter-soft as it probably felt.

And Ben let him look.

It was a privileged sort of intimacy that snared him hook, line and sinker.

Reeling him in before he could think about doing anything else.

"Come in."

He could feel the difference in the air when he ducked inside. The rush of heat and scent as Ben responded automatically. Thrumming with soft anticipation and fire-side warmth. The room was a mess of pillows and blankets with the thermostat set to max. Sheets tangled with the duvet. Nesting.

"She told you?" Ben asked, by way of opener, after the door closed behind him. Giving him space to move as they stood awkwardly in the living room. "I didn't remember much either. Not at first. Hell of a way to wake up. I don't think my ears have stopped ringing since I saw the recording. Trumbull has this fascinating way of making you feel like you've done something wrong long before he actually tells you anything. President or not. It was like standing in front of your father after you took his Camaro out for a joy ride and clipped the side mirror trying to sneak it back into the garage. I'm pretty sure he enjoyed it too."

He snorted.

"I believe that."

His toes plucked fitfully at the carpet as the silence lengthened. Still trying to figure out how to approach this before Ben solved it be taking a step forward. Leaning with his hip cocked against the side of the couch. Eying him for a long moment before-

"Yes," Ben said decisively, bracing his hands on the couch corner. Eyes dark. Host to that familiar predatory edge he would recognize anywhere.

"Yes?"

"Yes, this is real," Ben told him, "I know you, Mike. Part of you is trying to convince yourself this a mistake. That this isn't what it is. That I don't want you. This.  _Us._  Well, it is. And I do. So, you're just going to have to get used to it - that is- if you want to."

His mouth was drier than half the deserts he'd nearly died in when Ben caught his eye and held it. It didn't seem real. None of it. But if it was?  _Christ._  The truth was, if he woke up in the same empty bed with the same regrets, he didn't know what he'd do. Not after this. Not after-

"Mr. President…" he started.

"Ben," the man reminded, smiling ruefully. "That's my name, remember? You even use it sometimes. Eyes crinkling amused as he hushed a relieved laugh between his teeth. Feeling like he'd just been clocked one on the best possible way. Realizing it was okay to be caught off balance by all this. It was okay because Mike was right there with him and apparently way better at all this than he was.

 _Obviously._  
  
"I'm not good at this," he warned, expression somewhere between rueful and shit-eating as he cocked his head and looked Ben right in the eye.

"Neither am I," Ben replied, still smiling. Still there. Still issuing want and comfort in waves as the Alpha in him started to settle. More than that, it made him  _want_ to settle.

Coming from him, it was a strange feeling.

Appealing, but strange.

Whatever happened next wasn't going to be easy. There would probably be blow-back from all sides and a risk to the rest of Ben's presidential term. But it wasn't just that. The scale was entirely new. Forcing him to think about how things like stepping out of the White House gates for the first time was going to be. What Leah was going through with the media. His folks. Conner.  _Christ- Conner_.

"What do you think people are going to-"

"Thinking is difficult, that's why most people judge," Ben interjected. Eying him through the dark of his lashes - lips tugging up like he was already slow on the punchline.

"Did you just quote Carl Jung at me?" he returned incredulously. So damned relieved when he realized what they were dancing around was no different than what they already had. And somewhere along the line, it had stopped being about duty and professionalism, or even friendship. It was more. And it had been like this for longer than he cared to think about.

Ben had been his long before today. Long before London even. He just hadn't seen it.

"What can I say? I am feeling philosophical tonight," Ben returned with a grin, crossing his arms over his chest as that familiar, warm caramel scent clouded his senses. Encouraging him to look as the thin of the man's shirt pulled tight around his sides. Highlighting all the things he'd missed the first time around. Like the ridged scar that stood out underneath the thin material.

It was the same wound he remembered applying pressure to before leaping up to shut off Cerberus. The same one he could feel slicking blood to his shirt as he half carried Ben through the White House and into a sea of smoke and flashing lights. The same one that'd only been haphazardly wrapped when Leah had finally let him go and Conner was squirming through the crush. Grasping him tight around the middle as exhausted tears mixed with the blood and grit. Looking up to find Ben there. Ignoring all the people trying to get his attention, looking at him like-  _Christ._

"You didn't bond with me. Why?"

He cleared his throat.

"It didn't seem right," he admitted, rubbing at the back of his neck as the man watched him intently. "It felt right, but not-"

"Right?" Ben finished for him, nodding shallowly like he'd said something profound. "That famous gut of yours, huh?"

_He is more myself than I am._

It was nothing more than a random phrase. Something he remembered from a movie, or maybe a book. Fractured and without any real substance. Wondering off-hand if they were destined to finish each other's sentences or if they'd been like this the whole damn time.

"I wouldn't have minded if you had, I would have understood. Neither of us had much of a chance when it came down to it. But you? Not completing the bond? I might not be an Alpha, but I know that had to cost you a hell of a lot. The doctors tell me it's almost unheard of to have control like that. Mike,  _I felt it._  If we had bonded, it would have been right, gut feeling or not. But honestly, I am glad you didn't."

His eyebrow rose.

"Oh?"

Ben snorted and shook his head, rubbing unconsciously at the swell of his bonding gland. Still red and unbroken. His mouth watered. Cock twitching as he shifted awkwardly. Feeling arousal and excitement tighten his throat. Forcing him to swallow a rush of hormone-laden spit that would have-

"Hell no," Ben quipped with a laugh. "But I can't deny seeing the opposition's face tomorrow with no bonding mark and an aching gland when we make an address to the nation isn't ghoulishly appealing."

His eyes narrowed.

"If you think I'm going to walk around like some prized-"

"Yes, I do and so am I until we're off everyone's shit list. We do what we're told for the foreseeable future," he said with a grin. Making no effort to cover the fact he was hard. Cock firming against the soft of his sweats. Amusement contagious as he chuckled along with him. "Biology is a hell of a thing. Buy a guy a drink next time, huh?"

"I'll remember that," he hummed, drinking in the moment. So close he could almost reach out and touch him. Edging forward as Ben let him. Watching him kill the distance with a challenge in his eyes.

"I say all this of course, knowing what happened was  _my_  fault."

He snorted a laugh. Inhaling Ben's scent like he just couldn't get enough.

"I'm the one who started it, sir," he reminded, getting a secondary flash of the shocked-whites of Trumbull's eyes. The way his hands had come up in cautionary surrender when he'd challenged him the podium. He probably owed the old coot an apology. Later. Hopefully much later.

"You forget that I touched you, remember? Just before we went on stage? I might have stacked the deck before we even had a chance," Ben admitted. Displaying a far more inviting sort of body language now. Something that made him want to-

He blinked, remembering the drag of calloused fingers trailing down the inner of his wrist as Ben passed. All smiles and handshakes as he stepped onto the podium and started his opening remarks.

"Shit," he laughed, slapping his thigh – the one that wasn't still acting up after that fall down the elevator shaft. "You  _did_ didn't you? That was a dirty move, Ben."

"I'm a politician. What do you expect?" the man replied, doing that thing he did with his eyes that made it look like all of him was smiling. "Sometimes you can't play fair and still get what you want. And when it comes to this… to  _you_ , I've decided to be greedy."

He was close enough to see Ben's pupils dilate when he caught the change in his scent.

_God, they'd be lucky if they made it till the morning for those photos Lynn wanted._

"I'm going to remember that for the next time you try and rope a' dope me," he rasped. Voice low and raspy-rough as he threw caution to the wind and decided to do some dirt pool of his own. Letting his fingers catch on the frayed edges of Ben's sleeves. Not missing the barely-there shiver and the instinctive lean towards him.

"Go easy on me," Ben hummed back, just as low- just as wanting. Watching his face with those same eyes of his. Seeing too much and remembering more. "I'm not a young man anymore."

"Oh, I think you can hold your own," he returned, shuffling closer. So close that their lips brushed and he hazed the last few syllables across stubble and skin. Brushing deliberately against Ben's cheek as he glutted himself on his mate's scent.

"I guess we'll find out," Ben whispered, so close he felt the air before their lips met. Pitching them side ways across the back of the couch as Ben fisted his hand in his shirt and  _tugged_  him in.

And just like that, they were good as gone.

It might not have been their first kiss, but it  _was_  the first one that really mattered in the scheme of things.

**Author's Note:**

> Reference:
> 
> "Storge" – an affection, love, that slowly develops from friendship, based on similarity.


End file.
